The Script produce catchy, clever album

02/12/09 - Every Tuesday, I like to open up my iTunes Store window. Every Tuesday, new music pops up, and every Tuesday, new free music pops up. That is right, I said it: LEGAL free music. While I am convinced that I am the only college student who still buys my music, I do love Tuesdays for free music. While the songs are never all that great - some even border between terrible and hellish - I did come across a great free song: "Before the Worst," by The Script.When I downloaded the song, I half-expected a song that I would immediately throw right into my virtual recycling bin. What I got would be one of the most played songs on my computer as well as my iPod .

The Script, an Irish band, puts together a bluesy, Jason Mraz-ish sound that is both catchy and re-playable. "Before the Worst" is a track of music with fast-paced lyrics that hit all the right chords with listeners. It gives people something relate to - heartbreak, loss and the wish to go back to "before it all went wrong."

The good news is that this featured single on iTunes is not the release of a band that is going to have one hit and then be done. In fact it is far from that. The entire self-titled CD is worth giving a listen to.

The first song on the CD, "We Cry" features the similar sound of quick-paced lyrics as "Before the Worst." The lyrics move fast, and there is a raspy edge to them. The song features parts that almost seem to be said quickly rather than sung quickly to give a more rap-blues feel, followed by the chorus, which is enhanced with echo and reverb.

"Talk You Down," strays from the bluesy sound and reflects more rasp. However, the lyrics still move quickly as does the rhythm of the chorus, and again, the use of echo is found in the song as a special effect.

The band talks about going to stay with a friend in London in this song. For them we see that this is just a short plane ride away. As the beat picks up even more throughout the song, one can hear a bit of a falsetto, and then the song reverts back to the raspy voice. This switch-up keeps the listener attuned, as the new sound catches the ear better than keeping the same sound throughout the song - working as a cut would in a film. The song which talks about running creates a visual image of running through not only its lyrics but as well as the cutting of sounds and the rhythm throughout.

Next on the CD is the track, "The Man Who Can't Be Moved." The song is much slower than "Before the Worst," and "Talk You Down," but the raspiness and bluesy sound still exists. The use of falsetto a quarter of the way through the song is used similar to the way it was used in "Talk You Down" as a cut. This entices the listeners, but what entices the listener more are the lyrics. The lead sings, "I'm not broke, I'm just a broken-hearted man," a creative play on words.

The Script plays on words again on the second to last song on the CD, "If You Seek Kay." The play with words here is in the title. Each word acts a symbol for the respective letter in a curse word making the title fun to say over and over again quickly - an idea that Britney Spears and her producers also used on her latest CD in the song, "If You Seek Amy."

Clearly, The Script has fun saying it throughout the song as "If You Seek Kay" is said a total of 23 times throughout the song both in the foreground of the song and in the echo affect. Catchy - of course, it's a love song, but you catch that only after you catch the play on words.

The Script catches the audience's attention in a different way on the song "Rusty Halo." The Script again uses metaphor lyrics, but the music itself acts as the metaphor. While most of the songs on the CD are brighter and more upbeat, this song is still fast-paced with a dark undertone.

The CD has four other songs on and each are pieces of art. The Script produced a masterpiece of meaning - a CD that you can tap a pencil to over and over again.

The Script released their self-titled CD in the UK in November and it can be found on iTunes. The actual United States Epic Records release is set for March 17. The Script recently appeared on the CBS "Saturday Early Show" and will be back in New York on March 17, the date of their CD release.